


An Arbitrary Solar Event

by obscureenthusiast



Category: Star Trek: Enterprise
Genre: F/F, First Kiss, I really really wanted to write a new year's fic so here we go!!, M/M, Malcolm Reed and Hoshi Sato are both gay and bond over how they're both gay disasters and that's tea, New Year's Fluff, New Year's Kiss, both parts written very late at night and posted past 1am so please be kind to any typos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-26 05:01:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13228608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/obscureenthusiast/pseuds/obscureenthusiast
Summary: The crew of the Enterprise is planning a New Year's Eve party (nevermind that they're not technically in their own solar system anymore) and everyone's figuring out their resolutions for the new year! T'Pol is a bit confused about human traditions and kindly asks Hoshi for assistance in this matter. Meanwhile, at the same time, Trip Tucker is a gossipy southern boy who knows the dish on everyone's drama, and Malcolm Reed just wants to have a normal conversation with his crush at Least Once.





	1. In Which Hoshi Sato Finds Her Courage

**Author's Note:**

> my eyes hurt and I'm supposed to get up in the morning but this fic is done and Happy New Year everyone I hope you like it!!!

It had started as some crew member’s disappointed sigh, Hoshi imagined. Someone saying, “Such a shame we can’t be home for New Year’s,” maybe. And then someone else must have responded with something like, “Well, why don’t we have a party anyway?”

One way or another, by now the idea of celebrating Earth’s New Year’s had gained so much steam that Hoshi doubted anything short of an order from Archer would be enough to stop it (and she doubted he would give any such order, since she’d seen him helping Phlox carry streamers and confetti poppers).

Trip had loudly announced plans to sync a live feed from New York to the screen in the mess hall, so the whole crew could watch the fireworks when the ball dropped.

“Why New York?” Malcolm asked later, while they were setting up for the night’s festivities, his tone teasingly severe as a smile tugged on his lips, “America isn’t the only one with a New Year’s celebration.”

Trip rolled his eyes and gave Malcolm a grin, “Because I didn’t really feel like running a seperate countdown for every time zone in the world, and New York’s fireworks are usually decent.”

Malcolm laughed and poured a liberal amount of rum into the punch bowl, “Fair enough.”

Hoshi leaned on the table and looked at both men with a raised eyebrow, “Any resolutions for the new year?”

Trip grinned, “Don’t get pregnant.”

“I’m going to see if I can get half the points Phlox gets in basketball,” Malcolm said, stirring his punch with a thoughtful frown.

She reached over and swatted Malcolm’s shoulder, “It was a serious question!”

“We gave you serious answers!” Trip laughed, stepping away and walking toward the kitchen (probably to ask Chef something).

Malcolm smiled at her, “And what about you? What’s your resolution?”

Hoshi shrugged a little, “I don’t know. I’d love to get the translators working more accurately…”

He scoffed, raising an eyebrow pointedly, “It’s hardly a resolution if it’s something you’re already doing for your _job_.”

She chuckled and looked down, shrugging, “I don’t know, then… Maybe I’ll learn a new language.” 

Malcolm snorted, “Once again, it doesn’t count if-”

“-If I was going to do it for my job, okay!” Hoshi finished for him, laughing and raising her hands in surrender. She shook her head, wracking her mind for a good resolution, “Umm, I guess I could resolve to learn some new recipes and cook for the crew more!” 

He laughed, shaking his head with something like longsuffering. 

She crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes, “What, like _basketball_ is a better resolution than cooking?”

Malcolm bit his lip, muttering, almost too quietly to be heard, “Well, it’s not my _only_ resolution,” he smiled a little, glancing at her, “I have better ones.”

Hoshi grinned, “Like what?”

Malcolm scoffed, almost whispering, “Well, there happens to be someone I’ve been wanting to ask out on a date, I just haven’t had the guts.” He tilted his head, looking away as if it didn’t matter while all the same his cheeks reddened with soft embarrassment.

She leaned in teasingly, “And who would that be?”

He rolled his eyes, “What is this, primary school?”

“Oh, come on! I think it’s cute!” she laughed.

On the other end of the mess hall, the doors slid open and T’Pol walked in, reading off the PADD she carried in one hand. Hoshi watched the Vulcan carefully pick her way between decorations and tables scattered with party hats and noisemakers, wondering whether to go say hello or not.

“How about a deal?” Malcolm said, getting Hoshi’s attention with a low murmur.

When she looked at him, there was a knowing smirk on his face, and he raised a single eyebrow, almost in challenge, as he spoke.

“If I ask my certain someone out on a date, _you_ have to ask T’Pol.”

Hoshi blinked innocently and tried her best to feign confusion past the heat rising in her cheeks, “I have to ask T’Pol what?”

Malcolm gave her a look, “On a _date_.”

Hoshi didn’t bother playing innocent, now. Only crossed her arms and looked away, chewing on the inside of her cheek as she turned her gaze towards T’Pol again.

“Is it that obvious?” she asked, some of her distress creeping into her tone.

He chuckled in the back of his throat and stepped away from the punch to lean against the table beside her. 

“Only if you’re observant and pay attention to your face when she enters a room… or happen to hear the pining sighs from across the room,” he said, teasing.

She looked over at him, frowning, “So do you think she knows?”

Malcolm furrowed his brow thoughtfully, shrugging, “I don’t know how attuned Vulcans are when it comes to human emotions,” he said slowly, “but I’d wager not. She doesn’t seem to take notice of things like that.”

“So how do _you_ plan to ask your someone out?” Hoshi asked, adding quickly, pointing a warning finger at Malcolm, “And for the record I think it’s unfair that you know who my crush is when I don’t know yours.”

Malcolm snorted, repeating his earlier statement with more emphasis, “What is this, _primary school_?”

Hoshi smirked, “Just answer the question.”

He took a breath and spoke slowly, “I’m not sure how I’m going to do it yet. I don’t know if he’s interested.”

“I know the feeling…” she muttered, chuckling a little.

They both looked over at the kitchen as T’Pol exited with a mug of tea in her grip and her PADD held under her arm, closely followed by Trip, who was mid-speech about the festivities for tonight. 

“-so there’s all kinds of traditions and stuff that you’d probably be interested in from a cultural standpoint! There’s the thing where you hold a dollar so the new year brings you wealth, there’s eating twelve grapes, in Idaho they drop a giant potato, and of course there’s kissing, though I guess as a Vulcan you wouldn’t be too interested in that part, but still!”

T’Pol was nodding along, although both her posture and voice expressed boredom, “I’m aware of Earth’s cultural traditions, Commander Tucker, I had the opportunity to observe your New Year’s Eve celebrations when I was stationed on Earth.”

Trip smiled, glancing at Hoshi and Malcolm as if asking for backup, “Well, why don’t you come tonight? You can participate instead of just observe!”

T’Pol looked at all three of them flatly, saying slowly, “To be honest, I don’t… understand the logic in celebrating an already arbitrary solar event when this ship is not even within your planet’s solar system.”

Hoshi shrugged, “Think of it as a ceremonial thing. It represents new beginnings for a lot of humans,” she said, smiling a little, “It’s a time to reflect on the past and look forward to the future.”

Malcolm gestured at T’Pol, asking, “Do Vulcans not celebrate the passage of years?”

T’Pol pursed her lips, raising an eyebrow, “We mark the passage of time. We do not feel the need to consume alcohol and drop large, starchy vegetables while we do so.”

Trip laughed, “Oh, c’mon T’Pol,” he gave the Vulcan his best doe eyes (an expression Hoshi recognized from other times he’d tried to convince T’Pol to attend movie nights), “What harm could come of it? The work’ll be there in the morning, but this is a once-a-year party!”

“I’ll consider it,” T’Pol said, sipping her tea as she turned away, heading out of the mess.

“Hope to see you there!” Hoshi called, smiling a little as T’Pol disappeared through the door.

Trip clucked his tongue a couple times, turning his attention back to preparing the mess hall for the party, muttering to himself.

Malcolm gave Hoshi a smirk (and she could see a snarky comment just below the surface which he wisely kept quiet) before turning away to help Trip with hanging a large “Happy New Year” banner.

She rolled her eyes and stepped away from the table to continue working.

***

Hours later, the mess hall was crowded with people. Hoshi had taken a spot near the back with her glass of punch and a ridiculous feather boa that Trip had insisted she wear. Malcolm and Phlox had wandered over a while ago and the three were chatting away. Phlox was his usual cheerful self, observing the surrounding festivities with a sort of fascinated smile and a cone-shaped party hat strapped to his head. Malcolm was wearing a silly plastic crown that Trip had put on his head earlier (he’d made the obvious joke about the British monarchy as he did), and Hoshi was both shocked and amused that Malcolm hadn’t taken it off yet. 

“Well, Denobula doesn’t have quite this much excitement when it come to the new year passing,” Phlox said, chuckling a little, “I think perhaps the Denobulan philosophy is far more invested in our mating rituals than in watching time pass, we are a rather long-lived people.”

Malcolm nodded, looking vaguely uncomfortable, “I’m sure…”

Hoshi chuckled a little, glancing at Phlox, “So, in the spirit of cultural exchange, doctor, what’s your resolution?”

Phlox opened his mouth to speak, but Trip emerged from the crowd with a camera pointed at himself. He was talking excitedly, but stopped when he saw the three of them and grinned.

“Now, here we go!” Trip said, flipping the camera around to point at them, adding, in explanation, “Everybody say ‘hi’ to the Tucker family! I’m gonna send this to my folks and siblings so they can see how we celebrate New Year’s all the way up here!”

Hoshi smiled, “Hello, everyone!” she said, waving a little. Beside her, Malcolm and Phlox issued similar greetings.

Trip stepped closer, focusing the camera on Malcolm, “Now,” he said, smiling encouragingly at Malcolm, “This here is my friend Malcolm Reed, he’s the armory officer here. What’re you drinking, Reed?”

Malcolm glanced at his glass of punch, then back at Trip, clarifying quietly, “This goes through Starfleet channels to get back to Earth?”

“Well, yeah,” Trip said, frowning.

Nodding, Malcolm cleared his throat and said flatly, looking directly into the camera, “An entirely appropriate, completely non-alcoholic beverage.”

Trip laughed, reaching up to cover his mouth with one hand as he said, between chuckles, “And what’re your plans for the new year?”

Malcolm shrugged a little, smiling past the camera to look at Trip, “To avoid any shore leave trips that end with the two of us nearly naked and tied up in a cellar.”

Trip turned the camera onto Phlox with haste, saying quickly, “Annnd, that’s gettin’ cut out before I send it to my family, thank you, Reed.”

Reed tossed his head back, laughing, “You _asked_!”

“This here is Dr. Phlox, our ship’s CMO,” Trip said, giving Malcolm a final, dirty look over his shoulder, “Tell me, doc, do you have you decided on a resolution?” 

The doctor took a breath, bobbing his head thoughtfully, “Oh, I’m not sure what constitutes a ‘good’ resolution, as I’ve never made one before,” he said slowly, his eyebrows raising, “but maybe something simple?” he thought for a moment longer, before saying, with a smile. “Perhaps I’ll try hallucinating.”

“Ah,” Trip said, nodding, “is that a Denobulan thing?”

Phlox nodded, “Many Denobulans put themselves into hallucinogenic states. It’s a natural way to relieve stress,” he smiled a little, “I’ve never quite had the knack. But perhaps this year I’ll get it.”

Trip nodded again, “Alright, that sounds great! Now, last but never least,” he turned to Hoshi, bobbing his eyebrows excitedly, “Hoshi Sato! The best language expert a ship could ask for,” he beamed, “How’re you doin’, Hoshi?”

She laughed, saying, with mock seriousness, “Well, I’m a little disappointed to hear that the punch is ‘completely non-alcoholic’,” she said, smiling a little in Malcolm’s direction before looking back at the camera, “but besides that, this party couldn’t be better.”

“And what’s your New Year’s resolution?” Trip asked.

“Um…” Hoshi bit her lip, furrowing her brow as she thought, “I’m going to resolve to brush up on my Japanese so I can talk to my parents,” she said, shrugging.

“Beautiful!” Trip said, his grin wide, “Alright, everybody wave g’bye, I’ve gotta go find the captain and get a message from him before midnight!”

Hoshi laughed and waved as Trip backed up, attempting to keep them in frame as long as possible. He bumped into someone and turned around quickly, apologizing profusely.

As he stepped out of the way, Hoshi realized who he’d bumped into and nearly gasped. She managed to hid it behind a sip of her spiked punch.

T’Pol raised her eyebrows, “It’s alright, Commander Tucker.”

Trip lifted the camera with a smile, saying quickly, “Wanna say ‘hi’ to my folks, T’Pol?”

Hoshi chuckled a little as T’Pol lifted a hand in greeting, dipping her head and saying, in a serious tone that clashed with the gaiety and enthusiasm of the party around her, “Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Tucker. I hope you are well.”

Trip turned the camera around and said, “That’s our science officer, she’s really not as uptight as she seems,” he smiled a little, “I swear I heard her crack a joke, once.” 

Suddenly, Trip looked over and hopped on the balls of his feet a little as he spotted the captain a few feet away. He moved toward Archer and Hoshi heard him asking faintly something along the lines of “so who’re you kissing at midnight, captain?”

T’Pol, now that she was free from Trip and his camera, continued on her previous path to Hoshi, Malcolm, and Phlox. 

Hoshi smiled, “Evening, T’Pol.”

T’Pol nodded a greeting, but said nothing, her eyes were watching the crowd. She seemed to be observing behaviors. 

Malcolm glanced from Hoshi to T’Pol and Hoshi could see gears turning in his head.

She met his eyes and raised one eyebrow, a silent plea for him _not_ to do what he was thinking about doing.

Malcolm didn’t listen, though, to her quiet request, and instead smiled at Phlox, saying quickly, “Doctor, did anyone explain the grape tradition to you?”

Phlox shook his head, “No.”

Malcolm nodded toward the other end of the room, “Oh, well, come with me. There’s a whole table full,” he smiled a little, lifting his now-empty punch glass, “I need a refill anyway.”

Phlox grinned, “Well, that’s very kind of you, Mr. Reed!”

As the two walked away, Hoshi tried her best to very subtly glare-but-not-glare at Malcolm. He barely acknowledged her look, though, instead starting to explain to Phlox about New Year’s Eve traditions involving food.

For a moment after the other two had gone, there was silence between Hoshi and T’Pol. And just as Hoshi was wondering why she’d even developed a crush when it was so obviously unreturned, T’Pol spoke.

“I find it fascinating,” she said, her eyes still focused on the crowd, “that humans are so tied to their planet that even after you’ve left it you continue the traditions that were only ever deemed importance due to a human-constructed system of time measurement.”

Hoshi shook her head, smiling lightly, “Well, like I said earlier. It’s not really about the time measurement so much as it’s a tradition of renewal,” she shrugged, “I think humans enjoy the idea of a fresh start more than anything else.”

“And the traditions?” T’Pol asked, “The grapes, the ‘ball’ in New York, the kiss as the clock strikes midnight?”

Hoshi laughed a little, “Don’t tell me Vulcans have no traditions that sound like nonsense out of context?”

The tiniest of smiles tugged at the corner of T’Pol’s lips (or was that just Hoshi’s imagination?) and the Vulcan glanced at Hoshi, at last meeting her eyes.

“I suppose,” she said slowly, “that any culture has its moments of strangeness when viewed as an outsider.”

Hoshi nodded, returning the maybe-imaginary smile with a full smile of her own, “But being an outsider means you have the opportunity to experience events for the first time. In all their excitement.”

On the far side of the room, the large screen lit up with a familiar sight. New York City. Trip was standing up on a chair (or something like it, because Hoshi could see him from almost the waist up over the crowd) and calling out the time on the ship’s chronometer.

With less than a minute to go, T’Pol stepped closer to Hoshi.

“I suppose you’re right,” the Vulcan said quietly, hesitating a moment before she added, “When I was assigned on Earth I rarely left the Vulcan compound. I didn’t truly experience human culture until I was stationed here on Enterprise.”

Hoshi glanced at T’Pol, “How have you liked it so far?”

That tiny smile crept onto T’Pol’s face once more and she said, “I feel as if I haven’t taken full advantage of it,” she met Hoshi’s eyes, “Perhaps that will be what I call my ‘New Year’s resolution’.”

Blinking in surprise, Hoshi laughed, “Did you just make a joke?”

T’Pol’s face was a mask of seriousness, “I am being entirely serious, Ensign Sato.”

Laughing again, Hoshi blushed, looking down, “Apologies, T’Pol.”

On the other side of the room Trip announced loudly that there was only twenty seconds left in the year. 

T’Pol spoke in a low voice, “There is a human cultural tradition I’d like to take part in.”

Hoshi looked up, smiling, her eyebrows raised in interest, “What’s that?”

The Vulcan’s eyes met Hoshi’s with such intensity that the whole ship seemed to stop for a moment, frozen.

But, then, there was still the countdown going on around them. A crowd of voices calling out in excited tones…

_Fifteen_

_Fourteen_

T’Pol exhaled a breath and said, almost too quietly, “I understand there’s supposed to be a kiss at midnight.”

_Ten_

_Nine_

Hoshi smiled a little, her heart beating too quickly, “Right, but that’s for… couples…”

_Seven_

“Usually,” Hoshi added, in a whisper, as she stepped close to T’Pol.

_Six_

_Five_

T’Pol placed a hand on her shoulder.

_Four_

_Three_

The Vulcan furrowed her brow slightly, saying, “In the interest…”

_Two_

“…of cultural exchan-”

_One_

Hoshi didn’t let T’Pol finish her sentence, only wrapped a hand around the other woman’s neck and pulled her in for a kiss. 

The crowd around them cheered “Happy New Year!!” and a myriad of noisemakers and popping confetti cannons created a cacophony of sounds.

It lasted longer than Hoshi expected it to. The Vulcan pressed into her, an arm around her waist, pulling at the small of her back while Hoshi’s own hands brushed gently into T’Pol’s hair. It was _warm_ and even a little desperate. As if they’d both been waiting long enough. As if T’Pol knew exactly how long Hoshi’s gaze had lingered on hers. As if Hoshi had somehow missed months of T’Pol doing that same.

As they finally separated and Hoshi’s eyes fluttered open, she took a steadying breath.

T’Pol swallowed, a single eyebrow arching upward, “A fascinating tradition.”

Hoshi chuckled a little, allowing herself a small smirk, “So was that your grand plan to tell me how you felt?” she asked, teasing.

The Vulcan blinked, seeming surprised, “I did say I wanted to take full advantage of human culture.”

“I’d say you took full advantage of it,” Hoshi said, grinning, “since you just used a,” she pursed her lips, “what did you call it? An arbitrary solar event?”

T’Pol’s faint smile made a third reprise and Hoshi was starting to like the sight of it.

“It was a logical approach. Had you merely laughed I would have known you did not feel the same,” she said, reaching out and intertwining her fingers with Hoshi’s.

“You were afraid I’d reject you so you made your approach vague. It got you out of telling me directly,” Hoshi countered.

“Vulcans are tacticians,” T’Pol said simply, then added, with a raised eyebrow, “As for telling you exactly how I feel, I believe that part comes later.”

Hoshi smiled, “I like the sound of that.”

T’Pol glanced around the room and inhaled slowly, “Happy New Year.”

Hoshi couldn’t help it, she laughed. Giddy and grinning like a fool, she pulled T’Pol ever-so-slightly closer.

“A very happy New Year.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3 Thank you for reading part one!! If you only came here for the Hoshi/T'Pol, just know that the next chapter is just. 100% Tucker/Reed :P


	2. In Which Trip Tucker is a Know-It-All and Malcolm Reed Gets Embarrassed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New Year's Fic pt. 2! Now with 100% more Travis Mayweather!!! (Because I Forgot to include him in part 1 and have felt guilty every day for a year)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my eyes hurt but at least I don't have to get up in the morning and Happy New Year everyone I hope you like it!!!

It had started with Trip getting a message from his folks and other family back home. A short video from them that showed the Christmas festivities and some encouraging messages from his parents and siblings. 

“We’ll see you next year, pumpkin!” his mom said, waving as the video ended.

Trip snorted and shook his head at the nickname, grinning even though he could feel a little empty spot in his chest at how very far away from his family he was.

He’d told Travis about the message the next day as they’d walked to engineering, knowing that if _anyone_ would understand how tough it was to be away from family, it was Trav.

“It’s just too bad we can’t be home to celebrate the new year, y’know?” Trip sighed, mostly to himself.

Travis smiled a little, “There’s a lot of people on the ship that share the sentiment. It’s hard to be so far from Earth, makes a lot of sense to feel a bit lonely.”

And Trip stopped, frowning in thought, his brows drawing together, “I bet… folks wouldn’t be so lonely if they realized how many others feel the same way,” he raised his eyebrows, “And I bet no one would say no to a New Year’s party.”

Travis’s smile grew into a grin, “It’d be easy enough to organize.”

“And we can sync a live feed from Earth to the vid screen in the mess hall,” Trip said, his mind already racing to all the possibilities, “So we’d still be able to watch the fireworks.”

“I doubt the captain would have a problem with it,” Travis added.

Trip snorted, “Especially not if we get the crew excited about it.”

With a sharp gleam in his eyes, Travis nodded, chuckling, “You just leave that to me. I can get the buzz going.”

And there wasn’t a doubt in Trip’s mind that Travis would keep his word. 

Which was how, a few days later, Trip found himself decorating the mess hall with Hoshi and Malcolm, getting it all ready for the night’s festivities.

“Why New York?” Malcolm asked, his tone serious even as the ghost of a grin fought at the corners of his mouth, “America isn’t the only one with a New Year’s celebration.”

Trip rolled his eyes, “Because I didn’t really feel like running a seperate countdown for every time zone in the world, and New York’s fireworks are usually decent.”

He gave Malcolm a grin and was rewarded with a soft laugh from the other man, who ducked his head and turned his full attention to the punch bowl.

“Fair enough,” Malcolm said.

Trip bit his lip to hold back another laugh. He’d almost expected an argument from Malcolm, and the lack of it said a lot more about what was going through his head.

That was what Trip had learned about Mal… _Malcolm_. Sometimes what he didn’t say was as important as what he did.

And Trip couldn’t tell if Malcolm’s hesitance to put himself, even momentarily or teasingly, on Trip’s bad side was because he was finally planning on doing something about… whatever was going on between them. 

“Any resolutions for the new year?” Hoshi asked, pulling Trip out of his own head.

He snorted a laugh, shrugging a little, “Don’t get pregnant.”

“I’m going to see if I can get half the points Phlox gets in basketball,” Malcolm said, still looking down at his punch and not at Trip.

Hoshi reached over and swatted Malcolm’s shoulder, “It was a serious question!”

“We gave you serious answers!” Trip laughed, stepping away from the table and heading for the kitchen. He had to make sure chef was going to have enough grapes to go around (because, really, what was New Year’s without traditions?) and he figured that with the way Malcolm was avoiding his gaze, it was probably best to give him and Hoshi some time to talk things over.

There had been little things here and there ever since he and Malcolm had survived their Shuttlepod One incident. And, although that was hardly the kind of experience that two people could go through without maintaining some kind of connection, Trip could tell that it was something more. And on Risa it had become even more apparent (getting tied up in your underwear with a guy you’ve got a crush on tends to shed light on things), but Trip still hadn’t said anything to Malcolm. 

He supposed, in some ways, he was just afraid of scaring him off. 

“Hey, chef!” he called as he entered the kitchen. He glanced around and, seeing no one around, made his own way to the storage compartments to check for grapes (and cider and champagne and black-eyed peas and _when_ did the list of traditional foods get so long?). 

He heard a soft _whoosh_ as the door opened behind him and he spoke without looking away from the cold storage:

“Sorry for snoopin’, chef, I was just makin’ sure we had what we-” he cut himself off as he looked over his shoulder and saw T’Pol standing at the counter.

“Uh, sorry, I thought you were chef comin’ back,” he murmured, closing cold storage and turning around to face the subcommander.

“No need to apologize, Mr. Tucker,” she said, walking over to the other side of the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea, setting her PADD on the counter beside her.

“I trust that the preparations for this evening are going well?”

Trip nodded and smiled at her, “Real well! Are you gonna be joining us tonight?”

T’Pol hesitated, looking down at the counter with an unreadable expression.

“I am… I was not sure I would be welcome. Given that this is a _human_ celebration.”

Trip scoffed a little, shrugging, “Of course you’re welcome! Even Phlox is coming! Ain’t like we were plannin’ to leave anybody out!”

T’Pol looked over at him, studying his face for a moment.

“Thank you for the invitation, then,” she murmured, before looking down again.

Trip’s smile grew a little and he said, in a low voice, leaning toward her conspiratorially:

“Hoshi’s gonna be there.”

T’Pol stopped, her hands freezing motionless as she grabbed her tea and PADD. She half-turned her head to look at Trip, one eyebrow raised.

“Of what relevance is that statement?”

Trip almost laughed because he could _swear_ he could see the very edge of a blush creeping onto T’Pol’s face, tinging the tips of her pointed ears, but he really didn’t feel like figuring out what it was like to get personally scalped by a Vulcan, so he swallowed down his laughter and instead shrugged.

“I mean, Hoshi, Malcolm, Trav, the whole gang's gonna be there, might be a good time to socialize,” he said.

T’Pol didn’t look convinced (but then again she rarely _looked_ anything except perhaps vaguely annoyed or vaguely pleased), but she nodded anyway and grabbed her tea and PADD, heading for the door.

Trip hopped forward to follow her out, continuing as he went.

“There’s gonna be lots to do! We humans have got tons of history, so there’s all kinds of traditions and stuff that you’d probably be interested in from a cultural standpoint!”

They were back in the main mess hall, now, and Hoshi and Malcolm were both watching as they walked back across the room toward them. 

“There’s the thing where you hold a dollar so the new year brings you wealth, there’s eating twelve grapes, in Idaho they drop a giant potato, and of course there’s kissing,” he smiled, giving T’Pol a look, “though I guess as a Vulcan you wouldn’t be too interested in that part, but still!”

Trip thought he saw a spark of annoyance in her glance, but couldn’t be sure because she was solemnly and, to all outward appearances, boredly nodding along with his commentary. 

“I’m aware of Earth’s cultural traditions, Commander Tucker, I had the opportunity to observe your New Year’s Eve celebrations when I was stationed on Earth.”

Trip smiled with amusement, glancing at Hoshi and Malcolm with hope that they (or, more specifically, _Hoshi_ ) would pitch in to convince T’Pol to attend. 

“Well,” he said, “why don’t you come tonight? You can participate instead of just observe!”

T’Pol looked around at all three of them, clearly aware that she was being teamed up against, “To be honest, I don’t… understand the logic in celebrating an already arbitrary solar event when this ship is not even within your planet’s solar system.”

And then Hoshi spoke up, and if Trip didn’t see T’Pol’s gaze softening with his own two eyes, he wouldn’t have believed it. And he knew at that moment that, no matter what silly excuses or “we’ll see”s T’Pol gave, she was going to be attending the party that night. 

He hid a smile easily enough, but he knew T’Pol could probably see it when she finally looked at him again, because if she didn’t give him the _dirtiest_ look (all in the eyes, of course, Vulcans rarely showed emotions with anything else) and say, with an almost defiant jut of her chin.

“I’ll consider it,” T’Pol said, sipping her tea as she turned away, heading out of the mess.

Trip nearly laughed, but he didn’t figure that was all that appropriate. 

There was far too much to get ready for tonight, so quickly turned on his heel and grabbed a banner, looking around the room for somewhere to hang it.

***

The mess hall was crowded and loud and altogether one of the few occupied places on the ship, by the time the party was in full swing. Malcolm picked his way through crowds of people (muttering polite “excuse me”s that were probably unheard by most). 

He squeezed past a group of people, holding the silly plastic crown securely to his head with one hand.

It _was_ silly. And made him look ridiculous. But Trip had insisted that it was part of the fun. 

And, well, who was Malcolm to say no to that face.

Besides, Hoshi was stuck wearing a bright rainbow boa and kept getting feathers in her mouth, so, he supposed, he could be worse off. 

Plus he supposed he _had_ just abandoned her to talk to T’Pol. Alone. Without backup. 

He’d probably have to face retribution for that one.

After getting his punch refilled and leaving Phlox in the capable hands of chef (who, as it turned out, could actually talk for _hours_ about Earth food traditions), Malcolm had wanted to hunt down Trip.

Because if Hoshi was going to be talking to _her_ crush, he might as well make a stab at talking to his. Solidarity and all that, they _had_ made a deal, after all.

He spotted the familiar blond head among the crowd and quickly headed for him, a smile already on his lips as he saw Trip was filming a message from Travis, who was standing with a PADD in hand.

“-and in a few moments we’ll have the feed to New York’s fireworks on the screen right behind us!” Travis said, grinning.

Malcolm came up next to Trip, but stayed quiet since he knew he was filming.

Trip laughed, “So, besides keeping this ship flyin’ on the right path, Mr. Navigator, what’re your plans for the new year?”

Travis shrugged, scoffing a laugh, “I’m gonna try not to get hurt on any more shore leave trips, first of all, that’s at the top of the list.”

Trip nodded solemnly, “That’s a good one. We need you on both your feet, Trav.”

“And, I guess my other resolution is try to start a chess league on the ship,” Travis said, with a dismissive sort of half-shrug.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Trip said, his smile growing, “I didn’t know you liked chess!”

Travis chuckled, “It’s a good way to pass the time. My parents taught me when I was just a kid, we used to have chess tournaments with the whole crew on the _Horizon_.”

Trip laughed, “My dad was always tryin’ to teach me how to play but I was more interested in taking apart our radio.”

Malcolm snorted, “Why am I not surprised.”

Trip rolled his eyes a little and gave Malcolm a look (the one where he scrunched up his nose and tried to look annoyed but really only succeeded in looking like a somewhat perturbed puppy) and flipped the camera around, saying, with a serious expression, “Dad, my new year’s resolution is to learn how to play chess. Travis’ll teach me and by the time I’m back home I’ll be able to beat you, so consider this the gauntlet bein’ thrown down!”

Travis laughed, “I can’t promise those kind of results, Trip!”

Trip glanced over his shoulder and said, in a loud stage whisper, clearly meant for comedic effect, “It’s okay, Trav, I’ll just cheat my way through if I can’t beat him fair.”

Malcolm scoffed, laughing as Trip turned back to the camera with a cheery smile.

“I’m gonna stop the recording for a minute here while Travis and I set up the live feed, see you soon!”

As Trip turned off the camera and spun around to help Travis, Malcolm moved closer, smiling.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you organized all this just for your family.”

Trip snorted, “Nah,” he said, smiling as he fiddled with Travis’s PADD, glancing up to say, in a low, teasing tone, “I mean. Not _all_ of it.”

Malcolm laughed, nodding a bit but saying nothing.

It was… _astounding_ to him that anyone could like, no, _love_ their family as much as Trip clearly loved his. Malcolm had trouble conceptualizing it, honestly, given his own strained familial bonds.

But Trip was so open and caring and… so _feeling_ of things. His emotions, his heart, all displayed as freely as anything and so _so_ filled with hope.

Which was what worried Malcolm, if he was being honest. Because if… if Trip felt the same way about him, he couldn’t imagine that he would hold back. He couldn’t imagine what would keep him from expressing himself. 

“Oh, there we go!” Travis exclaimed, turning to look at the screen.

Trip gave a triumphant “aha!” and passed his camera to Travis, saying, quickly, “It’s gettin’ close, can you film the countdown?”

Travis nodded, “Sure, but what are you gonna do?”

Trip grinned and hopped up on a chair and called out the ship’s chronometer time for everyone to hear.

Less than a minute to midnight, Malcolm smiled and knocked back some of the spiked punch before arming himself with a confetti popper. Beside him, Travis was quietly filming the whole event, swiveling where he stood to try to capture the crowd of smiling face all around. 

“You ready, Malcolm?” Travis asked, grinning.

Malcolm gave a wry smile, shrugging a bit, “I don’t think it makes a difference, the new year’s gonna arrive either way.”

Travis chuckled and turned the camera back onto Trip as the countdown started in earnest.

“Fifteen! Fourteen!” Trip yelled, starting the countdown.

Malcolm yelled out the numbers as they descended, getting the confetti popper ready in his hands as the last few seconds.

“…Five! Four! Three!” 

He looked up at Trip, who was grinning like a kid, his face lit up with pure excitement as he turned to look at the screen.

_Two!_

Malcolm realized, vaguely, that if he didn’t look at the screen he was gonna miss the big moment, but he couldn’t help but stare. 

He’d seen Trip smile lots of times. Since the day they had met, it seemed half the time Trip was just… smiling. _Beaming_. But _this_ smile on this day, in this moment, felt so… so special. 

This was Malcolm’s first New Years that actually felt like… 

“A time to reflect on the past and look forward to the future,” as Hoshi had described it.

_One!_

“Happy New Year!” Trip shouted, laughing as confetti popped and cheers resounded from both the room around them and the screen with the live feed.

Malcolm (a little late) sent confetti flying, letting out a quick “whoop” of joy as the popper went off. He looked around, grinning, to see people celebrating.

Phlox was _devouring_ green grapes as fast as he could, and a few other crewmen were happily and quietly eating (trying to get all twelve finished and eaten before their time ran out). There were some kisses scattered across the room and…

And there at the back.

Malcolm stood up straight, standing up on his toes to see over the crowd because…

There was Hoshi. Kissing T’Pol. 

“That little…” Malcolm whispered, too shocked to actually finish his sentence. 

He didn’t think she’d actually _go for it_. At least not so soon after they’d made their deal.

Trip let out a sharp trill of laughter and hopped down off the chair, coming to stand next to Malcolm with a, “So, Hoshi and T’Pol, huh?”

Malcolm nodded, clearing his throat a bit, “I suppose so.”

Trip laughed, shaking his head, “I was wonderin’ when they were gonna work that out.”

This snapped Malcolm out of his shock faster than anything else. His attention turned to Trip and he stared at the engineer with a heavy frown.

“What do you mean by that?” he asked.

Trip shrugged, as if it was obvious, “I mean, they’ve been dancing around each other for so long. I was wonderin’ when they’d finally figure it out.”

Malcolm raised his eyebrows, “You mean you _knew_? About Hoshi’s crush?”

“Of course I knew,” Trip scoffed, grinning, “And I knew about T’Pol’s crush on Hoshi, too.”

“ _How_?” Malcolm asked, laughing, “I mean I can understand _Hoshi_ , but T’Pol’s a Vulcan.”

The corner of Trip’s mouth twitched in amusement and he shrugged again, crossing his arms in a self-important manner, “I know people. And I know gossip. It’s a Tucker family trait,” he tapped the side of his nose, “My gram could sniff out a heap of drama six months before it even happened. Swear on my life.”

Malcolm snorted, “I don’t believe you.”

Trip chuckled, “Just ‘cause I called it doesn’t mean you gotta be mad. There’s no shame in it, I just know things. I know who’s got crushes on who and who’s plannin’ on breakin’ up with who and _all_ kinds of stuff.”

“Really?” Malcolm said, eyebrows raising critically, “You know all that?”

“Yep,” Trip said, without a hint of hesitation. Then, he gestured around the room, saying, pointedly, “I know who everyone wanted to kiss tonight, even if they didn’t commit and go for it.”

Malcolm narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms, looking Trip up and down and weighing his words carefully, moving slightly closer.

“Prove it,” he said finally, his tone careful, “Tell me, oh great gossip master, who _I_ have a crush on.”

Trip snorted, “Tell you who you’ve got a crush on?”

Malcolm nodded, “It’s the only way to know you’re not making things up.”

They were standing face-to-face. Less than a foot between them and Malcolm’s heart was _pounding_ in his chest but he kept his face as expressionless as he could, trying to play this gambit out to the end.

This was risky, but, hey. He’d already had enough punch to fully forget about little things like “consequences”.

Trip’s eyes met his and the engineer smiled a little, biting his lower lip in thought (although the gesture did _nothing_ to help Malcolm with keeping his cool). 

“I’m waiting, Commander Tucker,” Malcolm said, prodding, raising his eyebrows expectantly.

Trip’s eyes flickered between Malcolm’s eyes and lips and his smile grew just a little bit, “Ooh, ‘Commander Tucker’, now, is it? You better watch your tone, Reed.”

Malcolm closed his eyes and shook his head, scoffing a laugh, “Just stop,” he said, without any real force behind it.

“I dunno, you’re the one givin’ orders to your superior officer, maybe _you_ should-”

Malcolm let out a terse breath and finally ( _finally_ ) grabbed the front of Trip’s uniform, pulling him in and kissing him hard.

Trip didn’t hesitate, his arms wrapped around Malcolm almost immediately, pulling him in with fingertips trailing up into his hair, a hand at his back as he was dragged almost desperately closer. 

Malcolm gasped pulled back for a second, his brows furrowing as he whispered.

“Why didn’t we do that sooner?”

Trip chuckled, still catching his breath, “I think there was a reason but to be honest I’m having a lotta trouble remembering right now.”

Malcolm nodded, “Yeah, me too,” he murmured, leaning in to kiss Trip again, not quite so hurried this time. 

He could feel Trip smiling against his lips, the soft ghost of a laugh brushing his face before they were interrupted by a throat-clearing sound.

It only took a second. Malcolm opened his eyes, spotted the captain standing not five feet in front of them (Porthos cradled in his arms and looking as excitable as could be, his tail wagging at a wild pace), and immediately untangled himself from Trip, trying in vain to straighten ( _straighten_ , god what a word to use) his uniform under the captain’s gaze.

“Captain, sir, I…” he swallowed, taking a breath and seeming unable to form words right now.

Captain Archer, luckily enough, didn’t seem to need any words from Malcolm right now. He smiled a little, looking between Trip and Malcolm and saying, in a gently curious tone:

“So, you two…” he gestured vaguely to a spot somewhere behind himself, “and Hoshi and T’Pol…” he raised his eyebrows, “Is there something in the punch that’s making my bridge crew couple off like this, or has this just been a long time coming?”

Trip shrugged a bit, managing to look snarky despite the way he was standing at a parade rest in front of the captain.

“Only thing dangerous in the punch is the rum, sir.”

Archer looked levelly at Trip, before finally cracking up, looking down at the floor as a chuckle escaped him.

“Fair enough, commander. Fair enough,” he looked between Malcolm and Trip once more, his smile widening just barely, “Just don’t let this interfere with your jobs.”

“Yes, sir,” Malcolm murmured, nodding profusely.

Trip grinned, nodding once, “You got it, cap’n.”

Archer turned around to head for the opposite end of the room (possibly to give Hoshi and T’Pol this same talk), but stopped mid-step and glanced back at them.

“Just… No flirting on the bridge. That’s the last thing we need.”

Malcolm felt the tiniest of smiles tug on his lips, but he managed a pretty convincing, “Understood, sir.”

Beside him, Trip apparently felt no such need for decorum, as he shook his head and said, in a teasing voice, “Does that go for you as well, sir? Or are only lower-ranked officers held to the ‘no flirting’ rule?”

Archer rolled his eyes and turned away without answering Trip’s question, though from the smile he wore, he seemed to find it amusing rather than insubordinating (although it was _definitely_ that). 

As soon as Archer was gone, Malcolm nodded a little, sighing out a breath.

“I think I just remembered one of the reasons why we didn’t do that sooner.”

Trip snorted and grabbed Malcolm’s hand, pulling him closer, “Don’t worry about Archer, he’s just saying the things he knows he’s supposed to say. He saw all this coming weeks ago.”

Malcolm raised his eyebrows, “Oh, really?”

Trip chuckled, shrugging, “I mean… _chef_ knew it was coming weeks ago, and the captain talks to chef, so… he knew.”

Another throat clearing warned them of another expectant person waiting for them to notice. Malcolm turned his head to see Travis standing a few feet away, video camera in hand and…

Oh…

Oh, no.

Travis smiled a little, lifting the camera, “I got that on video.”

“What part?” Malcolm asked, almost afraid to know.

Travis shrugged, “Everything. I mean, I kinda figured it was gonna happen, with the two of you…” he gestured between them, “Finally working it out.”

Trip snorted and Malcolm groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose as Trip began explaining to him the hierarchy of “people who know things on Enterprise”. 

A little later, when they were finally alone again, Malcolm would _finally_ get the chance to pull Trip in for a gentle, uninterrupted kiss and a whispered.

“Happy new year.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! I really had a fun time with this concept!! If you enjoyed it, consider leaving my a comment and a kudos, I really do appreciate every bit!!


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